Wednesday, March 16, 2016

8 Tips to Make Scripture Come Alive in Your Writing

Un-boring. It may not be a word, but it is for this post.
You know what I mean.

When we explain Scripture in the Bible studies we’re
writing, we want to be as un-boring as possible. After all, Scripture is alive
with truths and promises, hope and healing power. It is light to a dark world,
healing to the wounded soul, and the power of God to salvation for everyone who
believes in Christ (Romans 1:16).

As Bible study writers, we are stewards of
sacred words. So let’s make our Bible studies as un-boring as possible and
showcase the wonders, glories, truths, and love of God.

When you explain Scripture in your Bible studies, consider
following these principles to infuse your explanations with richness, vitality,
and everyday relevance:

1. Work with God to
understand Biblical passages.

Take the time to study the Word with its Author. Even if you’re
under a deadline, it’s critical to study the Word enough to be able to explain
it clearly, accurately, and with pizzazz. Understand passages from the inside
out. Get alone with God and work through your own questions about the passage.
Ask Him to help you see the milk and the meat and to know how to present them.

Let your personality shine.

2. Let your personality
shine.

God picked you on purpose to write your book. He wants to
use your personality, background, and knowledge to bless the reader. Avoid
sounding like the textbooks we had in school. Be yourself, talk to your reader
as a friend, and let your quirks and charms come through in how you explain
Scripture. But don’t let your personality traits obscure the richness of God’s
Word. Be the pen (or the keyboard) that God wants to use to encourage hearts
and strengthen souls. Allow God’s love and truth to shine through you, and
write your book as you would want to read it. Stay personable.

3. Include memorable
stories.

Just as I can easily remember stories from a sermon, I can
recall stories from a book better than I can recall a principle buried in a paragraph.
Use memorable stories to illustrate your explanations. The reader will better
understand how Scripture relates to everyday life, and they’ll come to see you
as a reliable teacher who can effectively connect Scripture to life today.

Avoid rabbit trails.

4. Avoid rabbit trials.

I love bunnies, but rabbit trails in a Bible study wear me
out. If an author follows every little bunny that pops into her head and
records its trail in her book, I lose sight of her original flow of thought,
and I begin to lose interest. Be kind to the reader, and limit discussing side
issues about your Bible passages. If you must use extra information, put it in
a side bar or in an appendix that has interesting facts about Scripture.
Limiting what you include in your main paragraphs will keep the reading pace lively
and allow the reader to absorb your main points of application. “Outlines” to
some writers is a bad word, but see How
to Write from an Outline and NOT Hate It
to make outlines your friend and your reader’s friend.

5. Refrain from
answering a question you just asked.

Word your questions so that the answers involve the reader’s
perspective and experience. Write them so that you engage the reader in
personal reflection and application. Leading your reader to participate in the
learning process is a great way to make your Bible study un-boring. Consider
starting a Facebook group for your Bible study so you can read their answers to
your questions!

6. Synthesize what
you’ve learned.

You may have found a
lot of “juicy” information, but sharing too many definitions and notes slows
down the reader and causes them to lose interest. Give the best, most direct
explanation of a passage, especially the ones that are the toughest to
understand. Your reader will thank you for it.

7. Paraphrase commentary
notes when possible.

Keep a conversational tone alive in your book by explaining
a passage as if you were talking to a friend. It may be tempting to quote a
chunk of a commentary, but doing this may tempt the reader to skip quotations that
are a paragraph long. Whenever you can, reword and shorten excellent notes, and
provide an endnote to give credit to the commentator’s ideas. This will cut
down on wordiness and keep the reader with you.

8. Application,
application, application!

This goes without saying, but it’s easy to get so caught up
in researching a passage and explaining it that we neglect applying it to daily
life. Application, along with the Holy Spirit, is the agent of change in the
reader’s life. Make your application strong, heartfelt, down to earth, encouraging,
and inspiring.

Love it! Thanks for the reminder to let the personality God gave me shine through. I can be silly and a jokester and will find myself trying to be only serious when writing about scripture. Yet, looking back, it's when I was "me" in posts that I had more comments or interaction with my readers!